Advanced Television: Streaming pay boost for UK music creators

Story from Advanced Television:

UK music creators are set to benefit from a boost to their earnings thanks to the Government driving forward a new label-led agreement on streaming pay.

The Creator Remuneration Working Group (CRWG), chaired by Creative Industries Minister Sir Chris Bryant, has been meeting regularly since 2024 to explore industry-led action – driving growth in the creative industries as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

This process has delivered a set of measures designed to boost the earnings of legacy artists, songwriters and session musicians and marks a further step towards ensuring the music streaming market works for everyone, on top of existing industry programmes.

The principles include a new framework for the renegotiation of contracts by artists who signed record deals before streaming became commonplace, in addition to support for the digitisation of their back catalogues so that it can be made available online. This aims to help legacy artists to increase their streaming earnings for their existing body of work.

Support for songwriters and composers includes a commitment to the payment of per diems and expenses for recording sessions, to ensure they are not left out of pocket.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) and Musicians’ Union also agreed to an uplift in session musician fees of up to 40 per cent for pop sessions and 15 per cent for classical to ensure they are more fairly paid for their work.

The agreed principles have been adopted by the BPI and Association of Independent Music (AIM) and recommended to their UK members. The UK divisions of Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group, the world’s three largest labels, have also committed to delivering them.

“Streaming has totally revolutionizeised how audiences discover and enjoy music, and how artists connect with their fans across the globe,” commented Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy. “But we have heard loud and clear from creators that more needs to be done to ensure they are fairly compensated when their work is used on streaming platforms. That is why I am delighted that the industry has agreed these new measures, which will go a long way to making sure our talented artists and creators are properly rewarded for their hard work, while driving growth through our Plan for Change.”

“Everyone loves music and it’s about time we really valued the people who create it,” added Bryant. “Millions of us use music streaming platforms who provide a fantastic service to their customers, connecting users with a wealth of music from around the world.”

“But many musicians and songwriters are really struggling and artists simply don’t think they receive their fair share of the profit generated by their work on these platforms. These new measures, which apply specifically in the UK, are an important step in ensuring creators are fairly paid for their work. I would like to thank the sector for coming together to drive this positive progress, which will benefit the music industry as a whole.”

The Government will support industry to deliver these measures in full, in order to improve conditions for UK music makers. The impact of the measures will be monitored and reviewed in a year’s time, working closely with members of the group to understand the extent to which they are improving creator earnings as intended.

The Government will then assess the need for further intervention, to ensure this package delivers on its objective to bring about real change for creators.

Labels estimate these changes will deliver tens of millions of pounds in new investment to support creators by 2030, which will help drive growth in the creative industries as part of the Government’s Plan for Change.

The Government has also committed to continuing to look at the issue of streaming pay for session musicians and has convened a meeting in September 2025 with key organisations from the music industry to take this forward.